Revenue Collection Act of 2013
Drafted by: Yanalia RG, Free South Califas CP Sponsors: Ainin TR, Pyreneesia PC, Maklohi Vai LD, Gothmogs TR, Jozef van Oostvoorne CP, Realm of God PC, Geilinor LD, Potenco RG ASTOUNDED that the nation has no legal method of enforcing its tax laws, REALIZING that taxation enforcement is necessary to provide revenue for the state, RECOGNIZING ALSO that the laws of the state must be enforced, The government of the nation hereby enacts the following. Definitions: Abuse is defined as the usage of executive powers by government agents beyond those legally granted to them, as well as the violation of restrictions on their powers. Taxes are defined as any monetary funds collected by the government of the nation. Audit is defined as examining the financial status of a taxpayer, in order to verify compliance with tax laws. Taxpayer is defined as any person, organization, or other entity which must by law pay taxes to the government. Section 1: The Revenue Collection Agency 1. The Revenue Collection Agency, known hereafter in this act as the RCA, shall be established, under the auspices of the Ministry of the Treasury, for the purposes of enforcing the nation's tax laws, collecting government revenue, ensuring the veracity of taxation reports provided by the citizens of the nation, and pursuing those who violate the nation's tax laws. 2. The RCA shall also be legally allowed to issue administrative rulings on taxation issues, within the confines of its legally enshrined grant of authority. 3. When enforcing the nation's taxation laws, RCA agents shall be bound by all laws limiting any and all other law enforcement officers. 4. Citizens of the nation may enter into litigation with the RCA on grounds of its violation of any legislation limiting its powers. Section 2: The Commissioner of the Revenue Collection Agency 1. The RCA shall be headed by the Commissioner of the Revenue Collection Agency, known hereafter in this act as the RCA Commissioner, or the Commissioner. 2. Given the importance of close oversight over the dealings of the RCA, the RCA Commissioner shall be appointed by the Minister of the Treasury. 3. The RCA Commissioner shall be responsible for supervising the RCA in its fulfillment of its duties. 4. The RCA Commissioner shall report to the Ministry of the Treasury, who shall approve the regulations and ruling of the RCA on taxation revenue issues. 5. It is the legal obligation of the Commissioner to report any abuses within the RCA as soon as the Commissioner receives any knowledge of them directly to the Minister of the Treasury. 6. The Commissioner shall be allowed to create whatever structure necessary for the operation of the RCA within the agency's grant of authority, within the confines of the RCA budget. Section 3: The Budget of the RCA 1. The budget of the RCA shall be allocated by the Minister of the Treasury, who is by law required to provide sufficient funds to meet the RCA Commissioner's proposed structure, or else propose a different structure and budget which shall suffice for the agency to fulfill its mandate. 2. The Senate is bound to provide a sufficient budget to the Ministry of the Treasury to provide for the RCA's operations. 3. If the Senate does not fulfill Section 3, Clause 2 of this act, the Minister of the Treasury will not be held legally accountable for his failure to fulfill Section 3, Clause 1 of the same. Section 4: Revenue Collection 1. The RCA shall be responsible for the collection and counting of all taxes created by the Senate. 2. Taxpayers shall report all necessary financial details for the calculation of taxes, as well as details necessary for the identification of individual taxpayers, to the RCA. 3. For the purposes of income tax, employers shall also report the details specified in Section 4, Clause 2 of this act for their employees to the RCA. 3. Details must be reported fully and entirely truthfully. 3. Methods and forms for reporting details, as well as the various method of collection of money, shall be created and modified as needed by the RCA Commissioner, with the approval of the Minister of the Treasury. 4. The end result of the processes used by the RCA must result in the legally defined amount of money taken from the taxpayer over the legally defined period, though money may be taken as many times as specified by the RCA Commissioner and approved by the Minister of the Treasury. 5. The RCA may audit any taxpayer, using methodology determined by the RCA Commissioner and approved by the Ministry of the Treasury. 6. Such audits, or their frequency, intensity or comprehensiveness, shall be applied equally to all taxpayers, except as specified in this act, or as determined by random or unavoidable factors. 7. Such audits, nor their aspects listed above, shall never be used for the purpose of harassment; unfairly raising the cost of business in a particular sector; establishing political or philosophical dominance except affirming the necessity for taxes to be raised and paid; or enabling de jure or de facto discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, socioeconomic standing, appearance, sexual orientation, gender identity, political preference, or similarly irrelevant or vicious factor; except as unavoidable. 8. A taxpaying entity may only be audited if it has never been audited or if its last audit ended over two years before. Exceptions may be granted by court order if it is determined that said entity has made substantially inaccurate or dishonest claims to the RCA, and a preponderance of evidence suggests that auditing said entity may be crucial for the proper functions of government to be fully funded and carried out in good faith. Section 5: Tax Evasion 1. All those who by law must pay taxes will face legal repercussions if they do not comply. 2. Tax evasion, the crime of not paying legally owed taxes or lowering one's legally owed taxes in an unlawful manner, is hereby illegal in the nation and is a charge that can be applied to suspects when arrested by the police force. 3. In cases involving sums of money over $2 million NSC, the RCA shall provide a reward of at least 10% of recovered funds as a result of the discovery of tax evasion to those who report the crime to the RCA. 4. The RCA shall be allowed to begin an audit for the purposes of uncovering and only given suspicion of tax evasion, remaining within its legal limitations and using methodology created by the Commissioner and approved by the Ministry of the Treasury. 5. If an audit reveals that some (combination of) asset(s) valued at over $70,000 NSC might have otherwise avoided scrutiny for tax purposes, the tax form and audit documentation shall be analysed by (an)other RCA auditor(s) for the purpose of counteracting the effect of unavoidable cognitive bias by the first auditor(s), specifically determining whether there are likely to be assets which may avoid scrutiny for tax purposes. If there are, the RCA may conduct a 'secondary audit' of the same entity, focusing on finding and accurately describing those assets so as to determine any necessary taxes or fines. 6. The RCA shall have the power to impose fines for tax evasion and require the payment of any unlawfully evaded taxes. 7. The RCA shall not have the power to prosecute criminal cases, although its investigations may lead to and be used in criminal cases. 8. Late tax payments to the RCA shall be fined at a rate of 5% of the unpaid tax per month the reports are late, up to a maximum of 25%. 9. Intentional, materially false reporting of taxes, or assisting a taxpayer in this activity, shall be a criminal offense that can lead to jail time and/or loss of property, as determined by the court. 10. Criminal tax evasion cases shall be prosecuted by the Ministry of Justice. 11. If an accuracy issue is discovered on tax returns by the RCA, and a tax increase results, the RCA shall have the power to fine the taxpayer a set percentage of the missing taxes on top of the missing tax payments which must be made. These percentages will vary based on the egregiousness of the offense, and will be determined by the Commissioner and approved by the Minister of the Treasury. Section 6: Legal Limitations on the RCA 1. RCA agents shall not have the power to arrest or detain suspects. 2. The RCA shall never consider any taxpayer's religion, political views, appearance, sexuality, skin color, age, or socioeconomic status in any of its operations, except where explicitly and specifically directed by legislation to consider specific characteristics for specific taxation. 3. The RCA shall be forbidden to ask any non-financial details of taxpayers beyond those necessary for identification of taxpayers and those specified in legislation. Section 7: Investigations into the RCA 1. At any time, the RCA Commissioner may order an internal investigation of the RCA to discover abuses and violations of the law. 2. The Revenue Oversight Committee, hereafter referred to in this act as the ROC, shall be created within the Senate for the purpose of overseeing the RCA. 3. The Commissioner shall announce internal investigations and their purposes to both the Minister of the Treasury and the Senate upon the commencement of an investigation, report any details he/she chooses during the investigation, and announce its termination and results at the investigation's closure. 4. At any time, the Minister of the Treasury or the ROC, referred to together for this purpose as the Investigation Initiator, may initiate an external investigation of the RCA. 5. The Investigation Initiator shall create an Investigator-General, hereafter referred to as the IG, to oversee the investigation of the RCA. 6. Only one external investigation may be ongoing at any time. 7. The IG shall report all details that the Investigation Initiator demands to the Investigation Initiator. 8. The discovery of illegal/abusive activity within the RCA shall lead to the prosecution of any and all persons responsible for the abuse. 9. Violations of any portion of this act by RCA agents shall be considered an arrestable offense on charges of abuse of power. 10. Any agent who upon learning of abuse or illegal activity does not report it to his/her superior in a timely manner shall be considered an accomplice to abuse of power, and charged accordingly. 11. The RCA Commissioner must initiate an internal investigation in a timely manner upon his/her discovery of multiple, related cases of abuse or illegal activity in the RCA, or else face removal from the post and potential charges of being an accomplice to abuse of power, depending on the results of external investigation. 12. Upon the initiation of an external investigation, all operating internal investigations must be stopped immediately, and all findings, documents, and information associated with them reported to the IG in a timely manner.